Perhaps the definitive band of Flying Nun Records' second wave, the Jean-Paul Sartre Experience – or as they were later, more manageably called, the JPS Experience or just JPSE – not only left a memorable, and surprisingly diverse catalogue, but went on as individuals to play their part in several other classic acts.
The core of the band, David Yetton and Dave Mulcahy, first played together in school groups, and then in what was described in an early Rip It Up interview as "a seven-piece band that played free-form rock" in the Christchurch suburb of Woolston. In 1985 they met Invercargill native Gary Sullivan through a mutual friend who was experimenting with magic mushrooms, reading Sartre and suffering a consequent existential crisis. Thus inspired, the three dubbed themselves the Jean Paul Sartre Experience.
The band's name came from a friend who was, according to Mulcahy, "going through a really bad time, getting really depressed and reading Jean-Paul Sartre. He used to say he was having these amazing experiences with with Jean-Paul Sartre."
Russell Baillie is now the entertainment editor at the New Zealand Herald
Crush won the 1993 NZ film award for best film score (shared with now acclaimed Aussie movie composer Antony Partos) and featured Greg Johnson on trumpet
A widely-believed rumour held that the band amended their name under legal threat from the estate of Jean-Paul Sartre itself. It wasn't true, but it was a good story.
David Yetton - bass, vocals
Gary Sullivan - drums
David Mulcahy - guitar, vocals
Jim Laing - guitar, vocals
Russell Baillie - keyboards
Matthew Heine - guitar